Col. Robert G. Shaw

Written By: Martha Boltz  |  Posted: Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

VIENNA, Va. - Today marks the birthday of one of the Union's true heroes, yet if one examines his upper class family and life, it is hard to envision the way it turned out.

The movie "Glory, " tells the story behind the deeds of Robert Gould Shaw. Born on Oct. 10, 1837, to a well-known Boston family, Robert was the only son of Francis Gould and Sarah Sturgis Shaw. Part of the most socially conscious of Bostonians of the time, the Shaws traveled in the highest of social and literary circles, counting among their friends authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as the up and coming author, Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Robert Shaw and the 54th Regiment memorial

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